Conventionally, a transporter that automates the task of retrieving objects by de-palletizing them from a pallet onto which numerous objects have been stacked has been known. The transporter, for example, holds an object using a holder provided on the distal end of an arm and transports the item. There has been a desire that the transporter retrieve objects in a shorter time.
Some embodiments are directed to a transporter and transporting method. A transporter of an embodiment has a transporter, a detector, and a controller. The transporter holds a selected object from among a plurality of objects and transports the selected object in a first direction in a first state, and then configured to transport the selected object, while holding the selected object, in a second direction different from the first direction and not anti-parallel to the first direction, in a second state. The detector detects a change from the first state to the second state, wherein, in the second state, the transporter can transport the selected object in the second direction without disturbance by the presence of any other object than the selected object. The controller stops transporting the selected object in the first direction, in case that the detector detected the change from the first state to the second state.
A transporting apparatus and a transporting method of embodiments are described below, with references made to the drawings. In this case, as an expediency in the description, the +X direction, the −X direction, the +Y direction, the −Y direction, the +Z direction, and the −Z direction will be defined. The +X direction, the −X direction, the +Y direction, and the −Y direction are directions along a substantially horizontal plane. The −X direction is opposite from the +X direction. In the embodiments, the −X direction is the “direction of pulling the object 110 forward.” The “direction of pulling the object 110 forward” is the direction of moving from the box pallet 100 toward the supporter 30. The +Y direction is a direction that intersects with the +X direction (for example, a substantially orthogonal direction). The −Y direction is opposite from the +Y direction. The +Z direction intersects with the +X direction and the +Y direction (for example a substantially orthogonal direction), for example, it is a substantially vertically upward direction. The −Z direction is opposite from the +Z direction, for example, a substantially vertically downward direction.